Judge dismisses NRA challenge to Seattle’s new gun-violence tax

A King County Superior Court judge on Tuesday dismissed a challenge by the National Rifle Association to Seattle’s new gun-violence tax, meaning the $25-per-firearm tax on gun sales and tax on ammunition will become law on New Year’s Day.

Judge Palmer Robinson denied a motion for summary judgment by the NRA and other plaintiffs — notably the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation — and granted the city’s motion for summary judgment and dismissal of the legal challenge.

AR-15, semi-automatic, magazine-fed rifle. Seattle has imposed a $25 tax on firearms sales, with the money going to research on gun violence.

“The NRA needs to butt out of Seattle’s efforts to enact sensible gun safety legislation,” said Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, reacting to the judge’s decision.

The Seattle City Council, reacting to a string of street shootings, in August voted for a $25 tax on gun sales and a 2- to 5-cent tax per round on sale of ammunition, expected to yield $300,000 to $500,000 a year, with money earmarked for research into gun violence and violence prevention efforts. Under NRA influence, Congress has severely restricted any research into firearms deaths by the National Institutes of Health.

Seattle City Council President Tim Burgess, its sponsor, defended the measure and applauded the decision.

“We established the gun-violence tax as a legitimate and appropriate way to raise revenue for gun safety research and prevention programs,” Burgess said. “The NRA and its allies always oppose these common sense steps to shine light on the gun-violence epidemic. They have blocked funding for basic gun-safety research at the federal level for decades. But in Seattle, it is different.”

The Centers for Disease Control, in figures released last week, found that gun deaths (homicide, suicide, accidental) and motor vehicle accidents each account for 10.3 deaths per 100,000 people each year in the United States. Washington is one of 21 states where firearms deaths exceed deaths on the highway.

“For too long we have had insufficient research and data on gun violence to help guide our response. We will now have critical funding to advance our work on gun violence research and prevention,” Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said in a statement.

The word from plaintiffs: The legal fight over Seattle’s tax is not yet over.

“It’s unfortunate the court chose to ignore the law and embrace the Seattle City Council’s anti-gun agenda. This is not the final word,” Lars Dalseide of the NRA said in a statement.

Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, added: “It is unconscionable for Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council to codify what amounts to social bigotry against firearms retailers and their customers.” He pledged to “vigorously” fight the new tax.

The plaintiffs included the Second Amendment Foundation, the NRA, the National Shooting Sports Federation — which fought the tax before the City Council — two gun shop owners and two firearms owners.

They based their case on a 1982 statute, enacted by the Legislature, in which the state of Washington “occupies and preempts” firearms regulation in Washington. The law was used previously to overturn a Seattle ban on packing heat in city parks.

The state’s authority includes “the registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge and transportation” of guns. It prohibits cities and towns from enacting restrictions “more restrictive” or exceeding the requirements of the state law.

The plaintiffs argued that the gun violence tax is regulation dressed up as taxation.

The city argued, of course, that it did not enact a regulation/restriction, but imposed a tax. Still, in his statement, Murray indicated a wider social goal.

“Guns now kill more people in the United States than automobiles,” Murray said. “Our community will not stand by as so many in our city, particularly young people of color, continue to pay the highest price for inaction on gun violence at the national level.”